Windows 7 Unmasked

Infoworld.com took a deep look into the finally unveiled Windows 7 and tested it on several benchmarks:

• The view from inside
  
• Performance
• Visual cues and other hints
  
• Compatibility
  

 

The view from inside

The kernel in each major new version of the Windows OS has spawned a different, typically higher number of threads. So when Randall C. Kennedy examined Windows 7 he found a nearly identical thread count (97 to 100) for the System process, he knew right away that he was dealing with a minor point-type of release, as opposed to a major update or rewrite. This was not "MinWin," the mythical, streamlined new Windows kernel that promised a clean break with the bloated Vista.

And the net effect? Surprisingly little. At this stage of development, over a year from release, Windows 7 looks almost identical to Vista.

Performance

An analysis of system and process metrics collected during testing showed both operating systems consuming a similar amount of RAM -- 637MB for Vista and 658MB for Windows 7 -- across all active processes, while the overall thread count showed a modest reduction under Windows 7 (712 versus 810 for Vista). Yet Windows 7 does already offer one compelling advantage over Vista: it’s fast.

Visual cues and other hints

Overall, the changes are mostly superficial. Even the new Task Bar is simply a twist on the existing Explorer UI model, not to mention a blatant rip-off of the Mac OS X dock. Moreover, none of Windows 7's UI goodness is the result of any architectural changes to the OS. The underpinnings are still clearly based on Vista, which explains why most Vista device drivers and services install without a hitch under Windows 7 M3. Not all Vista drivers behave.

It’s generally suspected that Vista was a rush release, but there’s no reason the improved window manager couldn’t have been dropped in via Windows Update once it was ready. Holding it back for Windows 7 is a real two fingers to users who paid for Vista

Compatibility

One of the more surprising results of my Windows 7 M3 testing was the number of unexpected compatibility issues that plagued each stage of the process. For example, Daemon Tools, an ISO image-mounting utility that works great under Windows XP and Vista, refused to install under Windows 7. Worse still, when he tried to work around the problem -- by using the Compatibility tab in the MSI file's properties dialog - he found himself stuck in an endless loop of failed installations and mandatory reboots.

The apparent source of the problem - an incompatibility between the low-level CD/DVD-ROM simulator driver (SPD version 1.56) and Windows 7 - was difficult to fathom, considering the kernel composition seemed so similar to Vista's